The Congress of the South African Students (COSAS) has asked for forgiveness from the South African Informal Traders Forum (SAITF) and all other South Africans.
This comes after the pupils participated in a march that took place on July 30, where they trooped to the office of the Gauteng Department of Education to hand over a memorandum with a list of their apprehensions.
The memorandum of the pupils listed various challenges that they are facing which is causing frustration for them.
The pupils said they want an end to corporal punishment, an end to the sexual harassment of girl pupils, supply of sanitary towels for girls at schools and safety and security in schools among other issues.
During the march some of the pupils mistreated several hawkers.
For this reason, a meeting was conducted yesterday between the SAITF, the Gauteng MEC for Education Panyaza Lesufi and the leadership of COSAS.
The pupils apologised for the way some of their members behaved on the day of the march.
The Department of Education, in a statement said: “The apology of the pupils was accepted by the SAITF.
“All parties have agreed that in future, in all marches of the COSAS, a committee will be established to consult with the SAITF to agree on measures that will not have any negative impact on the businesses of hawkers.”
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